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robinsloth.bsky.social
Robin
@robinsloth.bsky.social
910 followers 870 following 1.4K posts
Labor lawyer (not your lawyer), not providing legal advice (or any advice). SF by way of Chicago. She/her
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Reposted by Robin
robinsloth.bsky.social
After falling down a rabbit hole on judicial exclamation marks, I have discovered that Westlaw erroneously replaced an exclamation with a question mark in no less a case than Marbury v. Madison!
Text from 1 Cranch 180 of the Supreme Court reporters, Marbury v. Madison (this is very old and the "s"es look like "f"s): tution contemplated that inftrument, as a rule for the go-vernment of courts, as well as of the legiflature. Why otherwife does it direct the judges to take an oath to fupport it ? This oath certainly applies, in an efpecial manner, to their conduct in their official character. How immoral to impofe it on them, if they were to be ufed as the inftruments, and the knowing inftrumepts, for vio-lating what they fwear to fupport ! Screenshot of Marbury v. Madison on Westlaw, reading: From these, and many other selections which might be made, it is apparent, that the framers of the constitution *180 contemplated that instrument, as a rule for the government of courts, as well as of the legislature. Why otherwise does it direct the judges to take an oath to support it? This oath certainly applies, in an especial manner, to their conduct in their official character. How immoral to impose it on them, if they were to be used as the instruments, and the knowing instruments, for violating what they swear to support?
February 12, 2026 at 10:41 PM
robinsloth.bsky.social
After falling down a rabbit hole on judicial exclamation marks, I have discovered that Westlaw erroneously replaced an exclamation with a question mark in no less a case than Marbury v. Madison!
Text from 1 Cranch 180 of the Supreme Court reporters, Marbury v. Madison (this is very old and the "s"es look like "f"s): tution contemplated that inftrument, as a rule for the go-vernment of courts, as well as of the legiflature. Why otherwife does it direct the judges to take an oath to fupport it ? This oath certainly applies, in an efpecial manner, to their conduct in their official character. How immoral to impofe it on them, if they were to be ufed as the inftruments, and the knowing inftrumepts, for vio-lating what they fwear to fupport ! Screenshot of Marbury v. Madison on Westlaw, reading: From these, and many other selections which might be made, it is apparent, that the framers of the constitution *180 contemplated that instrument, as a rule for the government of courts, as well as of the legislature. Why otherwise does it direct the judges to take an oath to support it? This oath certainly applies, in an especial manner, to their conduct in their official character. How immoral to impose it on them, if they were to be used as the instruments, and the knowing instruments, for violating what they swear to support?
February 12, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Reposted by Robin
cwnewser.bsky.social
A Reuters photographer captured this image of a page from Pam Bondi's "burn book," which she used to counter any questions from Democratic lawmakers during an unhinged hearing today.

It looks like the DOJ monitored members of Congress’s searches of the unredacted Epstein files.

Just wow.
February 11, 2026 at 11:06 PM
robinsloth.bsky.social
This is an extremely funny peak Twitter moment, but I also just realized that David Simon was among the only people to correctly call one of the huge political shockers of the decade:

Corn Pop *was* real!
February 11, 2026 at 5:19 PM
robinsloth.bsky.social
Great job so far by all the haters out there, but there's room for improvement.

It can't take that much work to get Elon's life from One Sad Thing After Another to Every Sad Thing Everywhere, All at Once
paleofuture.bsky.social Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 7d
This is one of things. Bigtime.
Elon Musk: Life cannot just be about one sad thing after another. There must also be things that make us super excited and inspired about the future. This is one of things. Bigtime. Elon Musk • @elonmusk. 26m SpaceX will build a system that allows anyone to travel to Moon. This will so insanely cool 12:59 PM • 2/9/26 • 543K Views
February 9, 2026 at 10:54 PM
robinsloth.bsky.social
To follow up on this a bit, focusing on logistics gives us real, actionable ways to make ratfucking harder and less effective.

One response to "close House seats are hard to predict" is "what about Senate?" Those *are* easier to predict, so let's talk about them!
robinsloth.bsky.social Robin @robinsloth.bsky.social · 12d
My logistics question is "how would you pick races to fuck with in an environment of swings from 5 to 30 points left?"

Like, okay, you want to microtarget heavy dem polling places in close races where a few dissuaded voters matter. But where? If you pick wrong, the intimidation becomes irrelevant
February 9, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Robin
propublica.org
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Robin
meredithshiner.com
"In their words and drawings, they convey how much they ache for creature comforts and describe the anguish of being trapped. They write about missing their friends and teachers, falling behind at school, having unreliable access to medical care when they’re sick...and feeling scared."
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Robin
beckyhammer.bsky.social
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
February 9, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Robin
robinsloth.bsky.social
More sports should be two sports

One period of hockey, then put the team on a bobsled

Ski jump while doing archery

The possibilities are endless!
February 7, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Robin
taniel.bsky.social
UPDATE: Another 1,110 ballots counted and Mejia expand her lead over Malinowski further, now to 1.4% and 868 votes.
February 7, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Robin
analiliafornj.bsky.social
February 6, 2026 at 3:38 AM
robinsloth.bsky.social
How are we feeling about that call at this stage? Maybe those purporting to be reliable sources should try to be accurate rather than fast...

(Also, this >95% reporting number absolutely does not match the AP)
Decision Desk website showing Mejia in the lead by .4% (235 votes) but they have a check mark next to Malinowski's name as the winner.
February 6, 2026 at 3:28 AM
Reposted by Robin
jcollins.bsky.social
“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Pursued by federal agents, suburban ICE observers remain resolved
After a frightening pursuit by federal agents, suburban ICE observers say fear hasn’t stopped them from protecting their communities.
www.mprnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Robin
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
🚨HOLY CRAP. The Trump admin just took a SLEDGEHAMMER to due process, largely eliminating the Board of Immigration Appeals process and MANDATING DISMISSAL of ALL appeals (which cost $1,000 thanks to OBBBA) filed after tomorrow unless a majority of the BIA votes to hear the case.
Thus, rather than require such adjudications, the Department is changing its regulations to provide the Board more flexibility in reviewing appeals. Instead, for appeals taken from decisions issued after this IF becomes effective, as explained in Section IV.A of this preamble, the default will be summary dismissal unless a majority of current Board members vote to consider the appeal on the merits. And such dismissals will occur quickly—within 15 days of filing the appeal—allowing aliens to seek Federal court review expeditiously, rather than potentially waiting for years for a Board decision that in the vast majority of cases would affirm the underlying Immigration Judge decision.
February 5, 2026 at 2:37 PM
robinsloth.bsky.social
This isn't abolition, but this includes a lot of good demands. Prohibiting Kavanaugh stops that the Court expressly allowed, requiring state consent for large operations, allowing states to sue DHS for any violations (!)

Oh, and removing Kristi Noem.
sahilkapur.bsky.social Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 12d
Schumer & Jeffries lay out the Democratic demands for a DHS funding deal in a letter to the top Republican leaders
February 5, 2026 at 2:58 AM
robinsloth.bsky.social
Le's meltdown made this news, and brought eyes (including mine!) to the hearing, but we need to listen to the attorney for the actual victims here.

As she says, "people are just being treated like less than human."

"And we shouldn't need a court order saying Don't put someone's life in danger."
for basic human rights in this situation. Detain first, find authority later, this is exactly their strategy, and we've seen this from all of our cases where there's no warrant, there's no probable cause. Most of my clients, they report that respondents, upon detaining them, have no idea who they are. They are pulled over for how they look or for where they are or for any number of things that don't amount to probable cause under the U.S. Constitution. And I would point Your Honor to two declarations in a recent filing, which if Your Honor would permit, I could file in a supplement in this case. The first is a petitioner -- is a affidavit written by my client Oscar. And that was filed at Docket 67, The Advocates for Human Rights, et al., v. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., Case Number 26-cv-749. And Oscar's declaration is important for a few reasons. One, it articulates just his horrific experience throughout this proceeding. And it's easy for us to see court orders not being complied with and the e-mails back and forth on the computer, but his affidavit really just shows what it's like to experience that and in ways that were personally for me just sickening to read as his attorney. That he was without food. He was without clean clothes. He was subject to physical danger, both through reckless driving of ICE agents transporting him from one location to another, watching people screaming in pain with medical neglect, being exposed to COVID. Just the conditions of his confinement; eating food that he conflated with dog food. That people are just being treated like less than human. And all of this was happening while he had a court order for his release. And while all of this is happening, ICE agents are telling him to self-deport because he's got no chance to get out of there other than self-deport, so he's being deprived of access, and this is all in his affidavit. Myself and his immigration attorney, who's here in the courtroom today, were not able to talk to him. His immigration attorney in particular made diligent efforts to ensure compliance with the court order, and these are e-mails that are in Oscar's case. I think you've seen these. We're trying to get ahold of him. We're trying to get access to him. We're trying to bring him home. And, meanwhile, he is sleeping on the floor, if he gets to sleep at all, and he's being lied to, denied access to phone calls to call his loved ones or his attorneys. I would encourage Your Honor to read this declaration, and I would defer to the Court if you would like me to submit it formally in Oscar's own case. And the second declaration also in The Advocates for Human Rights proceeding, Docket Number 29, was an affidavit that I filed, and that details my own efforts to work collaboratively with counsel, with respondents' counsel, with -- I've been e-mailing and calling and trying to figure out how can we get these court orders complied with. There's an e-mail in that Docket 29 that I sent eight days ago to ERO, to attorneys from the DOJ, the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and attorneys representing ICE, Jim Stolley; still haven't received a response. I'm begging for a means of clear communication, and I'm flexible. I'm sharing my personal cell phone. I'm saying, Whatever I can do to work with you all to get my clients home, let me know; to work with you all to get my clients' belongings returned, let me know, and I receive no response. And I think just this question of the overwork of counsel here -- and I know we're all working above and beyond and not sleeping as much as we need to be, so I appreciate everybody for putting that effort in. And I invite the Court to think about the root cause of the problem, the root cause of our collective overwork here and the strain on our system with these repeated, repeated constitutional violations. We shouldn't need a specific court order to ask the DOJ not to put somebody's life in danger. But I can't tell you how many clients I've had to go find who were left on the side of the road with no coat, no phone, no wallet, no hat. They're wearing Crocs or whatever they got pulled out of their house or their car while they were wearing, and it's zero degrees outside. And we shouldn't need a court order saying, Don't put someone's life in danger. But here we are, and we need court orders -- or orders to show cause to show compliance with court orders that shouldn't have had to have been issued in the first place. I think this would be a different story if these habeas petitions were frivolous, but we're filing so many because there are just so many people being detained without any semblance of a lawful basis. And there's no indication here that any new systems or bolded e-mails or any instructions to ICE are going to fix any of this. Like we need -- we need judicial intervention, and it has to be -- it has to be more than just having -- having counsel be the go-between here, because we're -- I think we can see that counsel are being put in a position where they're working 20 hours a week -- 20 hours a day and it's not enough. If our system cannot keep up with processing these petitions to have rights vindicated, then we need to see what here is outside of the control of these attorneys, where does the root of the problem lie. And sanctions to the party are within your inherent authority and are appropriate to bring this -- this situation, this egregious, widespread pattern -- you've referenced the 96 court order violations and counting just in part of January -- and we need this to be brought back into the Court's control and into the Constitution's control. Thank you.
February 4, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Robin
danielsuitor.com
If you want to read the transcript of the February 3 hearing where Julie Le had her "this job sucks" meltdown, now you can:

drive.google.com/file/d/1FnY2...
danielsuitor.com Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 13d
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, "The system sucks, this job sucks" to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep. @FOX9
February 4, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Robin
azrww.bsky.social
Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”
February 4, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by Robin
bzosiad.bsky.social
I just got off the phone with Elizabeth's dad...she and her mom were freed tonight! Updated story: sahanjournal.com/education/co...
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Robin
robinsloth.bsky.social
The whole decision is extraordinary, but it's almost cathartic to see a section titled "President Trump has expressed racially motivated animus."

Reciting his statements verbatim, she concludes simply "the statements are what they are: unmitigated expressions of animus towards nonwhite foreigners."
a. President Trump has expressed racially motivated animus President Trump has made—freely, at times even boastfully—several derogatory statements about Haitians and other nonwhite foreigners. To start, he has repeatedly invoked racist tropes of national purity, declaring that “illegal immigrants”—a category he wrongly assigns to Haitian TPS holders—are “poisoning the blood” of America. § 705 Mot. at 47. He has, Plaintiffs allege, complained that recently admitted nonwhite Africans would “never ‘go back to their huts’ in Africa.” SAC 90 ¶ 66. He has complained further that nonwhite immigration is an “invasion,” creating a “dumping ground” that is “destroying our country.” Id.¶¶ 94, 101. He has described immigrants as “not people,” id. ¶ 86, “snakes,” id. ¶ 84, and “garbage,” id. ¶ 107, who have “bad genes,” id. ¶ 98. He has also stated that he prefers immigrants from “nice”—predominantly white—countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark over immigrants from “shithole countries,” id. ¶¶ 102, 108. President Trump has referred to Haiti as a “shithole country,” suggested Haitians “probably have AIDS,” and complained that Haitian immigration is “like a death wish for our country.” § 705 Mot. at 47. He has also promoted the false conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were “eating the pets of the people” in Springfield, Ohio. Even after that (ridiculous) claim was debunked, he claimed they were eating “other things too that they’re not supposed to
February 3, 2026 at 3:12 AM
robinsloth.bsky.social
The whole decision is extraordinary, but it's almost cathartic to see a section titled "President Trump has expressed racially motivated animus."

Reciting his statements verbatim, she concludes simply "the statements are what they are: unmitigated expressions of animus towards nonwhite foreigners."
a. President Trump has expressed racially motivated animus President Trump has made—freely, at times even boastfully—several derogatory statements about Haitians and other nonwhite foreigners. To start, he has repeatedly invoked racist tropes of national purity, declaring that “illegal immigrants”—a category he wrongly assigns to Haitian TPS holders—are “poisoning the blood” of America. § 705 Mot. at 47. He has, Plaintiffs allege, complained that recently admitted nonwhite Africans would “never ‘go back to their huts’ in Africa.” SAC 90 ¶ 66. He has complained further that nonwhite immigration is an “invasion,” creating a “dumping ground” that is “destroying our country.” Id.¶¶ 94, 101. He has described immigrants as “not people,” id. ¶ 86, “snakes,” id. ¶ 84, and “garbage,” id. ¶ 107, who have “bad genes,” id. ¶ 98. He has also stated that he prefers immigrants from “nice”—predominantly white—countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark over immigrants from “shithole countries,” id. ¶¶ 102, 108. President Trump has referred to Haiti as a “shithole country,” suggested Haitians “probably have AIDS,” and complained that Haitian immigration is “like a death wish for our country.” § 705 Mot. at 47. He has also promoted the false conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were “eating the pets of the people” in Springfield, Ohio. Even after that (ridiculous) claim was debunked, he claimed they were eating “other things too that they’re not supposed to
February 3, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Robin
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Judge Ana Reyes, in DC, issues a stay of DHS Sec. Noem’s decision to end Haiti’s temporary protected status (TPS) designation, a decision that was to go into effect on Tuesday and could have ended legal status for up to 350,000 people overnight. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FRITZ EMMANUEL LESLY MIOT, et al., Plaintiffs, Case No. 25-cv-02471 (ACR) V. DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: "America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions." More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington's vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take.? eSec Noem I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom-not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE. 6:52 PM - Dec 1, 2025 - 13.2M Views ' Letter from George Washington to Joshua Holmes (December 2, 1783). 2 Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl.) 1110 n.91. But see supra n.l. So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) "damn" countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti's TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, "killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies." They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer's disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) 1 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. 1 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. | 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. 9| 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. 9|5. They claim that Secretary Noem's decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary's decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things— in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 AM
robinsloth.bsky.social
Deputy AG Todd "My Fox News interview is raising a lot of questions answered by my Fox News interview" Blanche
acyn.bsky.social Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 14d
Blanche: It's not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.
February 3, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Robin
windowseat.bsky.social
Nearly 500 people I follow are still following Neil on here so this seems like a good time to point out how on Bluesky if you block someone, you don't automatically unfollow them.

So you'll want to unfollow and then block, in cases where someone you follow now seems worth blocking.
February 2, 2026 at 8:12 PM